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M101


Messier 101 (M101), also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The Pinwheel Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 7.86 and lies at a distance of 20.9 million light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 5457 in the New General Catalogue. The galaxy appears face-on and occupies an area of 28.8 by 26.9 arc minutes of apparent sky, which corresponds to a linear diameter of about 170,000 light years. The galaxy is quite large, but has a low surface brightness and requires exceptionally clear, moonless skies to be seen, even in medium-sized telescopes.
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M101

2023-05-15

Messier 101 (M101), also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The Pinwheel Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 7.86 and lies at a distance of 20.9 million light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 5457 in the New General Catalogue. The galaxy appears face-on and occupies an area of 28.8 by 26.9 arc minutes of apparent sky, which corresponds to a linear diameter of about 170,000 light years. The galaxy is quite large, but has a low surface brightness and requires exceptionally clear, moonless skies to be seen, even in medium-sized telescopes.

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Taken very high in the sky with the scope almost vertical for this HaRGB shot to avoid any influence of light pollution. Only 30mins per filter. Days later I found out that there is a newly discovered supernova in the group of stars in the top right spiral arm.